Returning a Historic Club to Activity/ W3ADO
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| Apr 5th 2012, 17:18 | |
KG6ZWZTotal Topics: 0 Total Posts: 0 |
Hello all, I would appreciate both your advice and your interest in this matter. My name is Midshipman 2/C Charles Johnson, USN, and I am a student at the United States Naval Academy. I am also a General-class operator, KG6ZWZ. I have just been appointed President of the Amateur Radio club here at the Academy, W3ADO. The past semester I and several other interested persons have been trying to restore and organize the club's spaces and equipment--W3ADO has not had serious member activity since 2000. Currently, I am the only licensed Amateur in the club, and one of only a handful of midshipmen to hold any ticket. Personally, I have never been particularly active in the hobby, so my lack of experience is certainly an issue. Right now, we do not have access to the roof of the installation in order to inspect our antennas, and none of the leads running to the shack are labeled. I have been attempting to figure out which antennas are functional and what bands they cover, but while I have been able to receive, I have not been able to get a signal report or any indication I've been heard. We have a lot of equipment: two Kenwood HF transceivers and a half-dozen Alinco and Kenwood VHF/UHF dual-banders, along with mid-00's computers. Most of our test equipment is antiquated and we have very little coaxial cable for leads. Right now, I'm looking for advice, having never run a radio club, and for anyone who would be interested in helping me do signal tests. 73, and hope to hear you on the air, C.S. Johnson, III KG6ZWZ President, W3ADO m133354@usna.edu |
| Apr 5th 2012, 23:38 | |
N0NBTotal Topics: 0 Total Posts: 0 |
Hi Charles. Good on you for jumping into the fray. With studies and all you probably don't have much time to play radio. One idea that crossed my mind would be for you to use an SWR analyzer to help identify the coax runs. It may not be 100% but I'm guessing you can get into the ball park sorting out a tri-band yagi from an 80m dipole by checking resonance. As for running a radio club, no two are alike but some things that work are activities that may center around radio but have a social component. Other qualities including being friendly, keep the club business transparent, avoid cliques even though shared interests may lead some members to be a bit introverted to each other, invite and welcome new comers, and keep it fun. HTH, 73, de Nate >> N0NB.us |
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